Windows 8: Not for desktops

Windows 8 was released last Friday, and many optimistic Windows 7 users (or just those in the market for a new PC) were looking forward to the changes Microsoft had in store.  Even more enticing was the low price tag, which is only $40 for the upgrade – a very low price considering the cost of previous upgrades.

But there’s a catch, of course – Windows 8 is nothing special for the PC.  The new desktop does away with the start button and instead provides an overlay based on the Metro UI from its Zune software.  The overall design looks very app-based because that’s mostly what it was designed for; Windows 8 is primarily for touch-screen desktops and tablets. That’s not to say it doesn’t work well on the desktop though; you can use your mouse and keyboard just as well if you don’t have touch-screen hardware.

One good thing Microsoft finally implemented is a form of integration between accounts.  You can now sign up for a Microsoft account and use this account to log in to your computer (you may disable this feature if you don’t like it).  Once you’re signed in, you can tie all kinds of apps to that Microsoft account, including Facebook, Gmail, weather, etc.  As a result, every time you log into your computer, you can automatically pull information from these apps without having to manually go to these sites in the browser and log in.

There were some other mild improvements.  File transferring and the task manager got an update, and you now don’t have to buy third-party software to mount .iso files on your computer – Microsoft finally caved in and integrated their own.  Another great feature they’ve added is multi-monitor support, so you don’t have to worry about using software like DisplayFusion to give the other monitors taskbars.

If you’re looking for a new tablet, give it a go – but if you’re looking for a new operating system for your home computer, I’d say stick with what you have.